Author Archives: Stacy

Editor’s Note: John Lucas, the creator of The Face Caddy, has been such an incredible supporter of all of us who struggle with jaw pain. In this blog post, he shares his philosophy on holidays and pain. What a year. Does anybody else feel like it was part fairytale and part nightmare? The ups and…

Well, I have finally turned off my air conditioning in my bedroom and office… this is huge for me, considering I need the cool temperature when I sleep. When I had to start wearing a thick, fuzzy, long sleeved robe over my clothes at the computer to keep my arms and hands from freezing, I…

Editor’s Note: John Lucas, the creator of The Face Caddy, has been such an incredible supporter of all of us who struggle with jaw pain. In this blog post, he shares his story of pain and its impact on his life. TMJ Disorder can be many things. A physical issue. An emotional issue. A relationship issue.…

Editor’s Note: John Lucas, the creator of The Face Caddy, has been such an incredible supporter of all of us who struggle with jaw pain. In this blog post, he shares the story of how Face Caddy was invented. Welcome to the first Jaw Bone Connection. In this column, I’m not going to just talk…

Welcome to a new feature on the blog: Conversations with My Pain Doctor. I thought of doing this column for you because my pain doctor has some really interesting insights. After all, every day he sees many pain patients who are at different parts of their journeys, each struggling in their own way to live…

One of the most maddening things you could ever hear as a patient is, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, maybe it’s all in your head.” Putting aside the obvious (and really tired) joke that, yes, it IS in my head, there is nothing funny about that statement. When you are struggling with…

I remember the doctor appointment like it was yesterday… I was sitting in the dental chair with my legs swung over to the side, facing my surgeon. He had “that look” on his face – you might know the one….a mixture of concern and, “I don’t really want to tell you this, but…” It was…

Recently I decided I wanted to do something a little different, and announced on our Facebook page that I was doing free 30 minute calls for people who are considering TMJ surgery. I’ve now had most of these calls, and was really interested to see what the common threads were among the patients I talked…

TMJ Hope was founded in January 2010 as a support and informational resource for patients like you. What many of you may not know is that there was a site prior to TMJ Hope called TMJ Friends. I have personally been involved in the advocacy world for over ten years as I went through my…

About TMJ Hope

Hi! I'm Stacy, the founder of TMJ Hope.

After being attacked by a dog when I was little, I had 12 jaw surgeries (including bilateral total joint replacements in 2006) to try to improve my jaw function & relieve my pain. The doctors told me I would live the rest of my life in chronic, intractable pain. Fast forward to now, & I'm THRIVING....despite my jaw pain.

If you know deep down that you are not destined for a life of chronic pain, join the TMJ Hope community & I to learn how to stop surviving, and start thriving once and for all.